In parenting circles, there is a lot of talk about milestones. Usually the talk focuses mainly on a few big ones: first smile, sitting up, solid foods, crawling, walking, talking, running. As Elliot gets older, he has eclipsed two milestones that always stand out for me: helping dress himself and sitting on a stool, instead of his baby seat.
The first one, helping to dress himself, is a very useful one. When dressing babies, usually you don’t get much cooperation which can make it challenging. Once they have been through the routine enough they start to pick up on when to straighten their arm or bend their head, which makes the dressing process a lot easier.
Sitting on a stool, instead of in a baby seat, is a little more nerve-racking. I know that he will probably fall off at some point (Andrew & Mari both did); I just hope that he is as old as possible when it happens. Elliot began sitting on a stool a couple weeks ago at Erin & Nate’s. All of the other kids were, so he wanted to as well. When we got home he refused to sit in his booster seat.
Neither of these things are earth-shattering, but they do lead to the moments when I have to step back and think “Wow, he’s not much of a baby anymore.”
In other news, if we had stayed on the same baby-birthing schedule, we would have a newborn right now.